Apple a day, along with other fruits and veggies, can help keep cavities at bay

Iris Winston, Postmedia News02.08.2011

"Diet really affects the teeth directly and indirectly," says Ontario Dental Association president Dr. Lynn Tomkins, an associate in dentistry and an instructor in the department of oral diagnosis and oral medicine at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry.

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Many people with bad teeth and swollen, inflamed gums might be malnourished, even though their food intake is high. Malnutrition can be caused by having too much of the wrong kind of food as well as by having too little to eat. Either way, the effect on the development and condition of teeth, gums and overall health is profound.

"Diet really affects the teeth directly and indirectly," says Ontario Dental Association president Dr. Lynn Tomkins, an associate in dentistry and an instructor in the department of oral diagnosis and oral medicine at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry. "Teeth are formed during the early part of our lives and are, to a large extent, dependent on what we eat for proper formation."

Dr. Bruce Ward, president of the British Columbia Dental Association, notes: "If you are not eating a healthy diet, you are not giving the body the opportunity to build the best teeth it can. You've got to give a developing child the right building blocks to get well-formed teeth."

When their teeth are forming, children need adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin C to ensure they develop healthy teeth and bones, says Tomkins. During the teenage years, when the wisdom teeth are forming, calcium is again of particular importance. In addition to milk products, she advocates the intake of fluoride in drinking water "to make the teeth hard and strong" and emphasizes the importance of vitamins A and D, "so that bone metabolism is stimulated," and vitamin C, "which is needed for the chemical process to form collagen."

"As we get older, we continue to need all these vitamins and having them in our food is the best way to get them," she says, highlighting such vegetables as broccoli and spinach as sources of vitamin A and strawberries, tomatoes and citrus fruits as sources of vitamin C.

"Eat according to Health Canada's food guide," recommends Dr. Peter Cooney, the chief dental officer of Canada. "Good nutrition is the way to work against dental disease."

"A healthy diet gives you healthy gums," Ward says. "People who eat a lot of acidic food and drink a lot of acidic drinks like pop have red, inflamed, swollen gums, just because of the nature of what they are eating. The gums are almost like the canary in the coal mine. If the body is not in good shape, the gums are one of the places that it shows up first."

While eating a healthy, balanced diet, it is important to limit the number of times you eat each day, Tomkins says.

"Both the type of food and the frequency of food have an effect on decay," she points out. "Every time you eat something, your mouth becomes slightly more acidic."

She says the body then has to perform a balancing act to return the pH (acid/alkaline level) to normal. A diet high in acid-producing foods such as animal protein, sugar and processed foods makes it difficult to maintain the balance.

This is one of the reasons it's important to make appropriate food choices, she says. "For example, a hard, crunchy apple is a detergent food. The crunchiness stimulates the saliva. It cleans the teeth and has good nutrients in it. Even though the apple contains natural sugar, the sugar doesn't linger in the mouth and doesn't have the opportunity to cause damage."

Dried fruit does not have the same effect, Tomkins notes. "Dried apples or other dried fruit like raisins or even dates have a higher sugar content because the drying process makes it more concentrated. The sugar lingers in the mouth and particles get stuck between the teeth, so they do much more damage."

Timing, as well as content, is also important, she adds. "If you really have a craving for raisins or dates, have them right after dinner or lunch when the pH in the mouth is going to be a bit lower anyway. And, although it seems counter-intuitive, don't brush right after eating. You don't want to brush any acids that have been produced into the teeth and damage the enamel."

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The problem with sugar

Sugar is one of the main causes of dental problems. The average Canadian eats the equivalent of 40 kilograms of sugar a year.

- Add less sugar to tea and coffee.

- Avoid sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

- Look for fruit juices and drinks with no added sugar.

- Read lists of ingredients when grocery shopping

- When you eat sweets, avoid the sticky type. They cling to the teeth and are harder to brush away.

- Eat sweets with a meal, not as a snack. The increased flow of saliva during a meal helps to wash away and dilute sugar.

- Carry a travel-sized toothbrush and use it after eating sweets. If you can't brush, rinse your mouth with water or eat fibrous fruit or vegetables.

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Apple a day, along with other fruits and veggies, can help keep cavities at bay

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